Automated core veneer feeder and layer for manufacturing plywood

ABSTRACT

A method for manufacturing plywood includes receiving a face sheet on a main conveyor and feeding a plurality of pieces of core veneer onto a veneer conveyor by an automated core veneer feeder. The method also includes removing one or more of the plurality of pieces of core veneer from the veneer conveyor and placing the one or more of the plurality of pieces of core veneer onto the face sheet.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Application No. 62/047,143entitled “Automated Core Veneer Feeder and Layer for ManufacturingPlywood” filed on Sep. 8, 2014 to J. T. Capps, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention generally relates to the field of plywoodmanufacturing, and more specifically to an automated core veneer feederand an automated core veneer layer for manufacturing plywood.

Plywood consists of three basic components, a face sheet, a back sheet,and a core material, also referred to as cross band, disposed in betweenthe face sheet and the back sheet at 90 degrees. In general, plywood ismade by manually placing one or more layers of core material in betweenthe face sheet and the back sheet.

In some applications, at least one layer of the core material is made ofmultiple pieces of veneer that are smaller than the face and back sheetin at least one dimension. Currently in these applications, the smallerpieces of veneer are manually fed onto a conveyor system by a firstoperator and then are manually taken off of the conveyor and placed oneither the face or back sheet by a second operator. The second operatorensures that the veneers pieces are precisely placed with no laps orgaps. This process is not only labor intensive, but it also limits thespeed at which the plywood can be manufactured.

Accordingly, an automated core veneer feeder and automated core veneerlayer for manufacturing plywood are desired.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method formanufacturing plywood includes receiving a face sheet on a main conveyorand manually feeding a plurality of pieces of core veneer onto a veneerconveyor by an automated core veneer feeder. The method also includesremoving one or more of the plurality of pieces of core veneer from theveneer conveyor and placing the one or more of the plurality of piecesof core veneer onto the face sheet.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, an automatedcore veneer feeder includes a pair of sweed rolls that receive pieces ofcore veneer and to feed the pieces of core veneer onto a veneerconveyor, a vision system that scans a stack of core veneers andidentifies a size and placement of each of the core veneers on the stackand a vacuum feeder assembly that lifts individual pieces of core veneeroff of the stack by turning selectively activating one or more vacuumcups. The automated core veneer feeder also includes a processor thatreceives input signals from the vision system and at least one of acontroller or one or more sensors in the veneer conveyor and thatresponsively controls the pair of sweed rolls and the vacuum feederassembly.

According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, anautomated core veneer layer includes an advanced veneer conveyor havingone or more sensors configured to detect one or more of pieces of coreveneer on the advanced veneer conveyor and a processor that receivesinput signal from the one or more sensors and responsively calculates aposition and a size of the one or more of pieces of core veneer on theadvanced veneer conveyor. The automated core veneer layer also includesone or more actuators that individually move each of the one or more ofpieces of core veneer on the advanced veneer conveyor into a desiredposition, wherein the one or more actuators are controlled by theprocessor.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniquesof the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the inventionare described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimedinvention. For a better understanding of the invention with theadvantages and the features, refer to the description and to thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The forgoing and other features, and advantages ofthe invention are apparent from the following detailed description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views illustrating a system formanufacturing plywood having an automated core veneer feeder inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an automated core veneerfeeder for manufacturing plywood in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an automated core veneer feederin accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a system for manufacturingplywood having an automated core veneer feeder and an automated coreveneer layer in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an automated core veneer layer inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is described in detail below with reference to the figuresfor purposes of illustration only. Modification to various embodimentsillustrated within the spirit and scope of the present invention, willbe readily apparent to one of skill in the art.

Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a system 100 for manufacturing plywoodhaving an automated core veneer feeder in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment is shown. As illustrated, the system 100 includes a mainconveyor 102 which extends through the entire manufacturing line. Thesystem 100 also includes a face sheet apparatus 104, disposed near afirst end of the main conveyor 102, which is configured to place facesheets 106 onto the main conveyor 102. After the face sheets 106 areplaced onto the main conveyor 102, the face sheets 106 are then movedthrough a glue application station 108 where an adhesive is applied toan upper surface of the face sheets 106.

In exemplary embodiments, the system 100 includes an automated coreveneer feeder 110 which feeds pieces of core veneer 111 onto a veneerconveyor 112. In one embodiment, the veneer conveyor 112 moves thepieces of core veneer 111 to an assembly station where an operator 114places the pieces of core veneer 111 on top of the face sheets 106. Inanother embodiment, the veneer conveyor 112 moves the pieces of coreveneer 111 to and places the pieces of core veneer 111 on top of theface sheets 106; the operator 114 then adjusts the alignment of thepieces of core veneer 111 as needed. In exemplary embodiments, theoperator 114 ensures that there are no gaps between the adjacent piecesof core veneer 111 and that the adjacent pieces of core veneer 111 donot overlap when positioned on the face sheet 106.

In exemplary embodiments, the operator 114 may use a controller 116 tocontrol the operation of the automated core veneer feeder 110. Inexemplary embodiments, the controller 116 is used to instruct theautomated core veneer feeder 110 to feed additional pieces of coreveneer 111 onto the veneer conveyor 112. In one embodiment, thecontroller 116 may be a remote that includes one or more buttons. Inanother embodiment, the controller 116 may be a pedal controller or anoptical sensor that the operator can use with one of his hands or feetto signal that additional pieces of core veneer 111 need to be dispensedonto the veneer conveyor 112.

In exemplary embodiments, the operation of the automated core veneerfeeder 110 may be completely automated. In these embodiments, one ormore sensors 118 may be disposed along the veneer conveyor 112 and thesensors 118 can be used to determine the number of pieces of core veneer111 on the veneer conveyor 112. The automated core veneer feeder 110 canbe configured to monitor the sensors 118 and to automatically feedadditional pieces of core veneer 111 onto the veneer conveyor 112 if thesensors 118 indicate that the number of pieces of core veneer 111 on theveneer conveyor 112 is below a threshold minimum amount. Alternatively,the automated core veneer feeder 110 can be configured to monitor thesensors 118 and to continuously feed additional pieces of core veneer111 onto the veneer conveyor 112 until the sensors 118 indicate that thenumber of pieces of core veneer 111 on the veneer conveyor 112 hasreached a desired amount.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 1, after the pieces of core veneer 111are properly positioned on the face sheet 106, the main conveyor 102moves the face sheets 106 with the properly positioned pieces of coreveneer 111 through a second glue application station 108 and an adhesiveis applied to an upper surface of pieces of core veneer 111. After thesecond glue application station 108, the main conveyor 102 moves theface sheets 106 with the properly positioned pieces of core veneer 111to a back sheet apparatus 120, which places a back sheet 122 on top ofthe face sheets 106 and the pieces of core veneer 111. After back sheet122 is placed the loosely assembled plywood panel(s) are cut into 99″individual sheets, stacked and prepared for pressing. FIG. 1 illustratesa three-ply panel construction; face, core veneer and back. Those ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the methods and systemsdisclosed herein can be used for panel constructions that are more thanthree-ply.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an automated core veneer feeder 200 formanufacturing plywood in accordance with an exemplary embodiment isshown. The automated core veneer feeder 200 includes a pair of sweedrolls 202 that are configured to receive pieces of core veneer 212 andto feed the pieces of core veneer 212 onto a veneer conveyor. Inexemplary embodiments, the pieces of core veneer 212 are stored in astack 210 adjacent to the sweed rolls 202. The automated core veneerfeeder 200 includes a vision system 208 that is configured to scan thetop of the stack 210 of core veneers 212 and to be able to identify thesize and placement of each of the core veneers 212 on the top of thestack 210. In exemplary embodiments, the automated core veneer feeder200 includes a vacuum feeder assembly 204 that is configured to liftindividual pieces of core veneer 212 off of the stack 210 by turning onand off one or more vacuum cups 206. In exemplary embodiments, thevacuum feeder assembly 204 is capable of picking up multiple pieces ofcore veneer 212 from the top of the stack 210 at one time using thevacuum cups 206. Once the vacuum feeder assembly 204 lifts the pieces ofcore veneer 212 from the top of the stack 210, the vacuum feederassembly 204 moves the pieces of core veneer 212 towards the sweed rolls202. After the pieces of core veneer 212 make contact with the sweedrolls 202, the vacuum cups 206 will release the pieces of core veneer212, allowing the pieces of core veneer 212 to be fed through the sweedrolls 202 and on to a veneer conveyor.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of an automated core veneerfeeder 310 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment is shown. Asillustrated, the automated core veneer feeder 310 includes a processor312, a vision system 314, sweed rolls 316 and a vacuum feeder assembly318. The processor 312 may be a simple processor such as an ASIC or FPGAor it may be a traditional microprocessor. In exemplary embodiments, theprocessor 312 may receive input signals from one or more sensors 302, acontroller 304 and/or the vision system 314 and responsively control theoperation of the vacuum feeder assembly 318 and/or the sweed rolls 316.

In exemplary embodiments, the processor 312 receives a signal fromeither the controller 304 or the one or more sensors 302 which indicatesthat additional pieces of core veneer need to be placed on the veneerconveyor. In response to receiving such a signal, the processor 312 usesthe vision system 314 to identify individual pieces of core veneerlocated on the core veneer stack. Once the individual pieces of coreveneer have been identified, the processor 312 instructs the vacuumfeeder assembly 318 to lift the identified individual pieces of coreveneer with one or more vacuum cups 320. After the pieces of core veneerhave been lifted, the processor 312 instructs the vacuum feeder assembly318 to move the individual pieces of core veneer to contact the sweedrolls 316. In exemplary embodiments, the processor 312 may also controlthe operation of the sweed rolls 316 including when the sweed rolls 316will be active and the speed of the sweed rolls 316.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a system 400 for manufacturing plywood havingan automated core veneer feeder and an automated core veneer layer inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment is shown. The system 400 islargely the same as the system 100 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B and theportions of the system 400 that are the same will not be discussed infurther detail. In the system 400, the operator 114 of FIGS. 1A and 1B,has been replaced with an automated core veneer layer 420.

In exemplary embodiments, the automated core veneer layer 420 includesan advanced veneer conveyor system 422 that is capable of individuallymoving pieces of core veneer 411 in multiple directions. The advancedveneer conveyor system 422 is also capable of placing the pieces of coreveneer 411 onto the face sheet 406. In addition, the automated coreveneer layer 420 includes a plurality of sensors 424 that are configuredto detect the pieces of core veneer 411 on the advanced veneer conveyorsystem 422. In exemplary embodiments, the sensor 424 may be opticalsensors, weight sensors, or the like. The automated core veneer layer420 further includes a processor configured to receive signals from thesensors 424 and to responsively calculate both the position and size ofeach of the pieces of core veneer 411 on the advanced veneer conveyorsystem 422. Once the position and size of the pieces of core veneer 411on the advanced veneer conveyor system 422 is known, the processorinstructs the advanced veneer conveyor system 422 to move the pieces ofcore veneer 411 to properly align the pieces of core veneer 411. Inexemplary embodiments, the proper alignment of the pieces of core veneer411 ensures that there are no gaps between the adjacent pieces of coreveneer 411 and that the adjacent pieces of core veneer 411 do notoverlap. In addition, the proper alignment may ensure that at least oneedge of all of the pieces of core veneer 411 are aligned in a straightline. Once each piece of core veneer 411 is properly aligned by theadvanced veneer conveyor system 422, the advanced veneer conveyor system422 places each piece of core veneer 411 on top of an upper surface of aface sheet 406.

In one embodiment, the advanced veneer conveyor system 422 is configuredto place the pieces of core veneer 411 on top of an upper surface of aface sheet 406 in a continuous manner such that there are no gapsbetween the pieces of core veneer 411 and such that gaps betweenadjacent piece of face sheets 406 are covered by the pieces of coreveneer 411. In another embodiment, the advanced veneer conveyor system422 is configured to place the pieces of core veneer 411 on top of anupper surface of a face sheet 406 in a manner such that the gaps betweenadjacent piece of face sheets 406 are not completely covered by thepieces of core veneer 411.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an automated core veneer layer500 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. In exemplaryembodiments, the automated core veneer layer 500 includes a processor502, one or more sensors 504 and an advanced veneer conveyor 506. Theprocessor 502 may be a simple processor such as an ASIC or FPGA or itmay be a traditional microprocessor. In exemplary embodiments, theprocessor 502 receives input signal from the one or more sensors 504 andresponsively calculates both the position and size of the pieces of coreveneer on the advanced veneer conveyor 506. In exemplary embodiments,the one or more sensors 504 are disposed along the advanced veneerconveyor 506 and may include, but are not limited to, optical sensors,weight sensors, and the like. Based on the calculated size and positionof the of the pieces of core veneer on the advanced veneer conveyor 506,the processor 502 uses one or more of a forward actuators 508 andlateral actuators 510 to individually move each of the pieces of coreveneer on the advanced veneer conveyor 506 into a desired position. Inexemplary embodiments, the forward actuators 508 can be used to move anindividual piece of core veneer up and down the advanced veneer conveyor506 and the lateral actuators can be used to move an individual piece ofcore from side to side on the advanced veneer conveyor 506.

In exemplary embodiments, a system for manufacturing plywood having anautomated core veneer feeder and an automated core veneer layer cansubstantially reduce the labor costs associated with manufacturingplywood. In addition, such systems may also increase the speed andefficiency of the plywood manufacturing process, quality and rawmaterials utilization. In exemplary embodiments, an automated coreveneer feeder may be used to replace an operator that is currently usedto feed individual pieces of core veneer onto a veneer conveyor.Likewise, an automated core veneer layer may be used to replace anoperator that is currently used to remove individual pieces of coreveneer from the veneer conveyor and place the individual pieces of coreveneer on a face sheet.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of onemore other features, integers, steps, operations, element components,and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated

While the preferred embodiment to the invention had been described, itwill be understood that those skilled in the art, both now and in thefuture, may make various improvements and enhancements which fall withinthe scope of the claims which follow. These claims should be construedto maintain the proper protection for the invention first described.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing plywood, comprising:receiving a face sheet on a main conveyor; feeding a plurality of piecesof core veneer onto a veneer conveyor by an automated core veneerfeeder, wherein the automated core veneer feeder includes a visionsystem that scans a stack of core veneers and identifies a size andplacement of each of the core veneers on the stack and a vacuum feederassembly that lifts the identified individual pieces of core veneer offof the stack by selectively activating one or more vacuum cups of aplurality of vacuum cups, wherein the one or more vacuum cups that areselectively activated are determined based upon the size and placementof a core veneer piece to be lifted off of the stack; detecting each ofthe plurality of pieces of core veneer on the veneer conveyor by one ormore sensors in the veneer conveyor; calculating, by a processor basedon data received from the one or more sensors, a position and a size ofeach of the plurality of pieces of core veneer on the veneer conveyor;aligning the plurality of pieces of core veneer by one or more actuatorsin the veneer conveyor, wherein the one or more actuators are directedby the processor to individually move the each of the plurality ofpieces of core veneer on the veneer conveyor in a plurality ofdirections, wherein the aligning ensures that there are no gaps betweenadjacent pieces of core veneer and that the adjacent pieces of coreveneer do not overlap, removing one or more of the plurality of piecesof core veneer from the veneer conveyor after the one or more of theplurality of pieces of core veneer have been properly aligned; andplacing the one or more of the plurality of pieces of core veneer ontothe face sheet.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the automated coreveneer feeder feeds additional pieces of core veneer onto the veneerconveyor based on a determination that a number of pieces of core veneeron the veneer conveyor is below a desired threshold.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the automated core veneer feeder continuously feedspieces of core veneer onto the veneer conveyor until a determination ismade that a number of pieces of core veneer on the veneer conveyorexceeds a maximum threshold.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein anautomated core veneer layer removes and places the one or more of theplurality of pieces of core veneer.